Rabbit rescue effort grows along with founder

Sunday

Feb 28, 2010 at 3:15 AM

NORTH BRANFORD, Conn. (AP) — At 13 years old, Northford resident Mandy Doyle wanted to take care of not only her own pets, but homeless animals, too.

Printing out pictures of abandoned animals from the Internet and hanging them in the library for others to see, she hoped to find families for the critters and eventually start her own animal rescue group.

And before long, she did just that. At 16, she began taking in unwanted domestic rabbits. Now, at 21, Doyle continues caring for and adopting out rabbits, collecting donations and single-handedly growing her organization, CottonTail Rabbit Rescue.

Since rescues are often run by people older than Doyle, she said she hopes more young people get involved in saving animals and volunteering at shelters.

When 15, Doyle began volunteering with the Critter Connection, a guinea pig rescue organization in Durham, by cleaning cages and learning about animal care from its founder, Cindy Kirmss.

When she was 16, Doyle took a job at a veterinarian's office in Middletown, where she still works as a vet's assistant.

"When I first started, I'd look online at classifieds and on Petfinder and find people giving them away," Doyle said. Petfinder.com is a site where rescue groups and shelters can post pictures and information of animals up for adoption.

She said she's always loved rabbits because "they're really good animals and you can litter box-train them like a cat, but they're as friendly as a dog. So they're like a mix between the two."

She took the animals into her parents' home, where she still lives, and set up rabbit cages in the basement, where the animals could stay until she found them adoptive homes. Kirmss said it was "very unique" to see someone Doyle's age already founding a rescue group.

Though Doyle primarily adopts to Connecticut residents, people from as far away as Vermont, New York and Florida have taken her rabbits into their homes.

"One woman lived in Florida and saw my rabbit online. She just knew it was her rabbit, so she found a transportation company who took him from Connecticut to Pennsylvania to Florida," Doyle said.

Since she started, she's taken in about 500 rabbits and adopted out about 400. Some live out their lives with Doyle and others are transferred to other rabbit rescues, like Hop-A-Long-Hollow in Norwalk and Stratford.

Brandee LaCava, vice president of Hop-A-Long-Hollow, said she met Doyle a few years ago.

"She's very bright. She's very clean — all her animals are very well taken care of," she said.

LaCava and Doyle are usually on the phone weekly, passing along information on a rabbit needing a home or asking for advice on a medical issue.

One rabbit Doyle found that was in need of immediate medical care is named Peaches, and is now one of Doyle's own pets. Doyle bought the Flemish giant for $1 at a local auction before she saw why no one wanted the animal: A bone was sticking out of Peaches' back leg.

"She was still very lively, but her leg was broken and had to be amputated," she said.

Often Doyle has a waiting list because so many have called her to give up their pets.

"I can't take every single one. Some people give me sad stories, like two people called recently and said they both have cancer and their doctors say they can't keep their rabbits," Doyle said.

But she says her adoption rates are good, with one or two rabbits finding new homes every few weeks. She requires adopters to fill out an application and charges $75 for a rabbit that is spayed or neutered and $20 for a bunny.

Doyle also pet-sits and sells bales of hay and rabbit toys to her adopters to bring in extra income for CottonTail Rabbit Rescue.

The challenge of running a rescue appears daunting to her friends and family, but she says she'll continue finding time to get it all done.

"I'll probably be doing this for the rest of my life. I've tried to stop a few times, but I can't," she said. "There are just too many rabbits out there."

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